My brain is mush. Hail Hydra. Hail Hydra. My brain is slipping. My memories are slipping. Hail Hydra. Hail Hydra. I feel cold. My parents warmth a distant memory. Hail Hydra.

"It was him." Steve pulls me from my thoughts. Though I don't recognize them. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me." I know him.

"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago." Sam reminds.

"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..." Steve thinks aloud. I see flashes of snow. I am trapped.

"None of that's your fault, Steve." Nat tells.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky." Steve sighs. My heart begins to hurt and I fully come back from my trance. Nat is bleeding from her shoulder and Sam is concerned.

"We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out here in the truck" Sam demands. One of the guards pulls out an electric rod and neutralizes the other. It knocks him out. When it's appropriate Maria Hill appears from beneath the helmet.

"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." She looks at Sam. "Who's this guy?"

"New." I say finally.

"She's back!" Nat rejoices softly, pain lingering between her words.

"I wonder where she went." Sam raises an eyebrow, "you alright?"

"You're too kind." I half smile. Hail Hydra.

"You didn't answer the question." Nat looks at me.

"Look, you should be concerned for yourself. We're all going through stuff." I remind, I show my broken wrist. It dangles in a disturbing way.

"We've gotta hurry and escape while we can." Maria explains, "Then we'll take care of all of you."

-

Maria dug us out, it was a miracle we made it. Then she took the rest of us to a facility they couldn't recognize.

"GSW. She's lost at least a pint." Maria tells a guy who runs up to help Nat.

Sam insists, "Maybe two."

"And attend to Isabelle's injuries as well." Maria commands.

"Let me take her." A doctor approaches us girls urgently.

"She'll want to see him first. Hopefully Isabelle will as well." Hill takes us to Fury. We are all in shock. Seeing that Fury is alive. Hail Hydra.

"About damn time." Nick chokes out a joke. Tears fill all our eyes, even mine. Hail Hydra. I wince as my brain continues to malfunction.

-

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache." Fury tells us after we're properly taken care of.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." A doctor interrupts.

Nick smiles softly, "Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good."

Nat shakes her head, "They cut you open, your heart stopped."

"You died." I rephrase harshly.

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it." Nick explains.

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve has been distant lately, hearing him talk is heartbreaking.

"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful." Maria defends.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust." Nick says pissing me off.

"You must be talking about me then." I speak up.

"Isabelle we can talk later. You don't need to do this." Nick insists.

"You've been hiding something from me. You must know who I am." I sound desperate. Steve stares at me for the first time in a while.

"Pierce could do better." Nick groans, "Not everything is about you. And certainly I can't be blamed this time."

I try to hold my tongue, "Yes sir."

"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, "Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility." See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues." Nick assures me. My heart lifts a little.

"We have to stop the launch." Nat is stern.

"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." Fury shows a case with three chips laying within it.

"What's that?" Sam questions.

"Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized." Maria cleared up.

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own." Nick says seriously.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die." Maria tells straight faced.

Nick continues, "We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra. We need to get pass them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left..."

"We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve reminds.

"S.H.I.E.L.D had nothing to do with it." Nick defends.

Steve frowns, "You gave me this mission, this is how it ends. S.H.I.E.L.D's been compromised, you said so yourself. Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

Nick doesn't argue, "Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."

"And how many paid the price before you did?" Steve remarks.

Nick protests, "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

"Or Isabelle? Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? S.H.I.E.L.D, Hydra, it all goes." Steve negotiates.

Maria uncharacteristically nods, "He's right."

Sam watches Fury look at all of us, "Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower." I chuckle at his inside joke slipped into his comment.

Nick gives in, "Well... Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."